Dissociative Disorders and Addiction

Addiction is a serious problem that requires professional treatment, but especially so when you suffer from a dissociative disorder. Attempting to treat a dissociative disorder and addiction individually is practically impossible, especially when they co-occur, because it is very difficult to differentiate between the two problems. In other words, it is hard to tell which problem affects the other more strongly, so they both require treatment for users to recover. If you suffer from addiction and a dissociative disorder simultaneously, treatment is available that will teach you about both your problems and how they affect each other. You can heal from your addiction and dissociative disorder if you have the right help.

What Is a Dissociative Disorder?

Dissociative disorders vary in severity and type, but generally they involve a breakdown in either memory, identity, awareness or perception. The most well-known dissociative disorder is dissociative identity disorder, which was formerly known as multiple personality disorder, wherein people have more than one distinct personalities. Other dissociative disorders include dissociative amnesia, where patients temporarily lose memory of a specific event or time, and depersonalization disorder, where patients become detached and feel as if their experiences are unreal. Dissociative amnesia is the most common dissociative disorder, but each disorder could lead patients to drug abuse to relieve their symptoms.

How Dissociative Disorders Lead to Drug Addiction

Dissociative disorders are complicated mental disorders, because patients can easily lose control of themselves. This means that drug abuse is always a threat, because people will struggle to deal with a mental disorder in any way they can. The problem is that someone with a dissociative disorder may not know what she is doing when she abuses drugs. For instance, a patient could abuse drugs against her will during a problematic episode. If the user continues abusing drugs or alcohol without getting treatment, she will become addicted. To avoid addiction along with a dissociative disorder, seek treatment immediately.

Treating Addiction and a Dissociative Disorder

If you suffer from both drug addiction and a dissociative disorder at the same time, traditional addiction treatment may not be your best treatment option. To heal completely, seek help for both of these issues at the same time, and learn how these problems interact with each other. It is important to understand how your addiction affects your dissociative disorder and vice versa, because then you can heal completely. To find out more information about the types of addiction treatment that are available, call our 24 hour, toll-free helpline today to speak with our admissions coordinators about effective treatment centers. You can recover with the right help.